As a heat wave is expected to affect southern China for a longer while, reports of heat stroke cases have been increasing in Chinese cities with at least one death reported by a hospital in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province and two dozen patients hospitalized in southern Chinese cities.
The West China Hospital of Sichuan University in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, received three patients diagnosed with a heat stroke on Sunday with one of the patients eventually dying of multiple organ failure, local media Red Star News reported Tuesday.
Critical conditions including multiple organ failure and bleeding of the digestive tract and other parts of the body appeared just a few hours after the male patient was hit by the heat stroke, according to Yu Haifang, deputy director of the emergency department of the hospital.
He further suffered from respiratory and cardiac arrest when he was transferred to the West China Hospital and eventually died despite of an all-out rescue effort by the hospital.
The other two patients are still being treated in ICU. Since they are both suffering from obvious coagulation disorders and multiple organ failure, they are receiving continuous bedside blood purification, liver protection, anti-infection and other treatments.
The three patients are men in their 20s, 40s and 60s respectively. The two younger patients work outdoors and the elderly suffered the heat stoke while he was cooking in the humid kitchen in high temperature.
In recent days, heat stroke cases have not only been reported in Sichuan, one of the warmest regions in China, but also in multiple southern Chinese cities as several cities have broken new records for high temperatures and dozens of others have been baked in scorching temperatures.
So far 26 cases of heat stroke have been reported in Yuyao city alone in East China’s Zhejiang Province during this heat wave.
Weather forecast expert predicted that widespread hot weather is expected to continue for at least two more weeks.
Many people regard heat stroke as ordinary heat apoplexy and neglect its fatality. The major difference between heat stroke and ordinary heat apoplexy lies in the loss or ongoing loss of consciousness, according to chinanews.com.
People with heat stroke may experience loss of consciousness, convulsions and other symptoms. If the patient attacked by heat stroke is not treated promptly, their nervous system, respiratory system, liver and kidney system will be successively damaged, and multiple organ failure is usually the lethal cause of heat stroke.
Characteristics of a patient of heat stroke include the patient’s body temperature exceeding 40 C with no sweat. Besides, the patient will suffer from loss of consciousness.
Source:- Global Times
Children play on a fountain plaza in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, on the evening of July 9, 2022. Photo: IC
